Tag Archives: Jeffrey Meyers

Reply to the Joint FV Profession, Part 5 — The Denial of the Visible/Invisible Church Distinction

The Joint FV Profession (JFVP), written by Doug Wilson and signed by PCA Pastors Jeff Meyers and Peter Leithart, denies the classic Protestant distinction of the church into visible and invisible.

The JFVP on the Church
Of course, they claim to hold to this distinction, but they deny it by putting a different content into it. Instead of using it to define the difference between those who are truly members of the church and those who merely enjoy its outward communion, they define it as the Church at different times (the historical and the eschatological church).

In contrast to the Federal Vision, the Reformed Church has never taught that “the visible Church is the true Church of Christ” (JFVP, emphasis mine). *The* true church of Jesus Christ consists of only true believers.

Again, classic Protestants would not have said, “The one true Christian Church is visible and objective, and is the possession of everyone who has been baptized” (Ibid.). In contrast, Reformed theology teaches that the one true church is the bride of Christ and the body of Christ, and this can only be true of the elect who are united to Christ in grace and glory (WCF 25.1, WLC 65). This certainly does not consist in everyone who has been baptized, and it is dangerous to say that it does, as we shall see below.
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